Instructions Opera 8 / Opera 8.5 / Opera 9 (Windows):

1. If you do not already have Opera 8, Opera 8.5 or Opera 9, go to www.opera.com and download and install Opera 9.
2. Start Opera 8 / Opera 8.5 / Opera 9.
3. In the menu, click "Help" - "About Opera" and the "opera:about" page will open. Look in the section "Paths" to find the "Opera directory" (Image: large small)
   It will be something like "C:\Program files\Opera\profile\", "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Opera\OPERA\profile\", or "C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile".
4. A subfolder to the Opera directory named "Skin" is where user skin files are stored, for example "C:\Program files\Opera\profile\Skin\".
5. Download the files vkcc49o8.zip and/or vkcc50o8.zip to this skin folder.
   Don't unzip the files!
6. To use a Vorkosigan ComConsole skin, do like this::
   • In the menu, click "Tools" - "Appearance..." (or right-click in the toolbar and choose "Customize...").
   • In the popup dialog click the "Skin" tab, click on "vkcc49o8" or "vkcc50o8", and then click "OK".
7. Notice: The brown and silver buttons are "Large buttons":
   • Right-click in the toolbar and choose "Customize...".
   • In the popup dialog click the "Toolbars" tab, check "Large images", and click "OK".

 Adding/removing toolbar buttons:

1. You can add for example a "Home" button to a toolbar:
   • Right-click in the toolbar and choose "Customize...".
   • In the popup dialog click the "Buttons" tab, drag a button to the toolbar, and click "OK".
     (Place your mouse pointer on the button image, press and hold down the left mouse button, and drag the button image to the toolbar of your choice.)
2. To remove a button from the toolbar, right-click on the button, and in the pop-up menu, click "Remove from toolbar".

 Installing the Nexus button:

1. Drag this "Nexus" button from this page to the toolbar.
   (Place your mouse pointer on the button image, press and hold down the left mouse button, and drag the button image to the toolbar of your choice.)
   I suggest placing the Nexus button to the right of the "Home" button.
2. The "New button" dialog will pop up and ask if you want to use this button, click OK. (Image: large small)
3. Notice: This is a new version of the nexus button, the old version (for Opera 7.5 and earlier) does not have a button image in the "vkcc49o8" and "vkcc50o8" skins for Opera 8 / Opera 8.5 / Opera 9.

 Other changes:

1. Main toolbar as sidebar:
   • Go to the menu and click "View" - "Toolbars" - "Main bar" to make the main bar visible.
   • Right-click in the main toolbar and choose "Customize...".
   • In the popup dialog click the "Toolbars" tab, choose "Left" (or "Right") in the "placement" droplist, and then click "OK".
2. If you like, you can make many other changes using "Tools" - "Preferences...", or by right-clicking in a toolbar and choosing "Customize...".
3. Now your Vorkosigan ComConsole is ready for use.

 Opera 8 / Opera 8.5 / Opera 9 extras:

1. You can make your Vorkosigan ComConsole even more Vorkosigan inspired if you like.
2. Download the file o8_extra.zip and "unzip" it to a temporary folder. There should be 4 files:
   • "vkcc3.ico", a Vorkosigan ComConsole icon (image).
   • "banner1.gif", a Vorkosigan ComConsole advertising banner (image).
   • "banner2.gif", an alternative Vorkosigan ComConsole advertising banner (image).
   • "vkcc40.adr", a file with Vorkosigan ComConsole bookmarks.
3. Move the file "vkcc3.ico" from the temporary folder to the Opera program folder, usually "C:\Program files\Opera\".
4. Add the Vorkosigan advertising banners:
   • Notice: The advertising banner is not used in Opera 8.5 or Opera 9, and not in registered earlier Opera versions, and it is shown only if you have the main toolbar visible.
   • In the Opera 8 images folder, usually "C:\Program files\Opera\Images\", is a file called "banner.gif". Rename it for example "banner.gif.bak".
   • Move the files "banner1.gif" and "banner2.gif" from the temporary folder to the Opera images folder, and rename one of them "banner.gif".
   • Your Opera 8 will now use this as the default advertising banner.
5. Add the Vorkosigan ComConsole bookmarks:
   • Click "Bookmarks" - "Manage bookmarks..." in the menu, and the "Bookmarks" page will open.
   • Click the "File" button and in the pop-up menu click "Import Opera bookmarks...". (Image: large small)
   • The "Select Opera bookmarks to import"" dialog will open. Navigate to the temporary folder and double-click the file "vkcc40.adr", and the Vorkosigan ComConsole bookmarks will be added.
   • You can now close the "Bookmarks" page.
6. And if you prefer, you can change the Opera icons in the Start menu and on the desktop to "vkcc3.ico".

 Opera 8 / Opera 8.5 / Opera 9 branding:

1. If you want to "brand" your Opera browser as "Vorkosigan ComConsole" you have to edit the ini file.
2. In the menu, click "Help" - "About Opera" and the "opera:about" page will open. Look in the section "Paths" - "Preferences" to find where the "opera6.ini" file is stored, for example "C:\Program files\Opera\profile\opera6.ini".
   (Image: large small)
3. Close your Opera 8 / Opera 8.5 / Opera 9, this is IMPORTANT.
4. Open the "opera6.ini" file with a text editor.
5. In the [User Prefs] section of the ini file might be a line like this:
   title=Opera
6. Change this line to:
   title=Vorkosigan ComConsole
7. If there is no "title=" line in the [User Prefs] section, just add it last in the [User Prefs] section.
8. Save and close your text editor.
9. You can now restart your Vorkosigan ComConsole (Opera 8 / Opera 8.5 / Opera 9), and it should now be branded as "Vorkosigan ComConsole".